The midfielder was in no doubt about Brendan Rodgers' stand-out performer.

“You look at our team and our star man for me was Jon Flanagan by a country mile,” Gerrard told the ECHO.

“He doesn't get many headlines but as captain of the team he was the player I am most proud of.

“I thought he was unbelievable. He's been fighting hard in training just to get in the 18, never mind the starting 11, but the manager threw him in at the deep end against a top class player like Kevin Mirallas and I thought he was sensational.

“It was one of the best derby performances I have seen for many years.

“He reminds me of (Jamie) Carragher in a lot of ways. I don't think you would judge Jon in terms of ability or skill, but he is all about heart, desire, determination and fighting for the cause.

“He's a Liverpool fan like myself so I know what it meant to him to come into a derby and finish as our man of the match by a mile.”

It was the 19-year-old Academy graduate's first Merseyside derby appearance and only his second Premier League outing in the last 19 months.

In the absence of the injured Jose Enrique, Flanagan was selected ahead of France international Aly Cissokho for the left-back slot and repaid Rodgers' faith with a solid display.

“I didn't have to say anything to Jon before the game,” Gerrard said.

“He's a local lad and you don't need to tell them what the derby means. He's known what to expect from an early age.

“Jon was on the front foot, he was aggressive. He did exactly what the manager told him to do before kick-off. He asked him to be positive and anticipate the danger. He was brilliant.

“All of the players gave him a round of applause when he came in the dressing room afterwards.”

Saturday was Gerrard's 30th Merseyside derby and he believes it will go down as one of the great contests between the arch rivals.

It was the first time the clubs had met since Roberto Martinez took over at Everton and the 33-year-old says the fact that both teams were so committed to attacking made it a classic.

Gerrard said: “I thought Everton were slightly different in this derby. They tried to play a bit more.

“That's what their manager is trying to do and it's similar to how we play in getting it off the goalie and trying to play out from the back. In the past they have gone more direct early.

“I enjoyed it. I thought it was a tremendous derby. I'm sure the neutrals enjoyed watching it and it was great to play in as well. It was two good teams going right at it. Both teams were trying to win it and that's what everyone wants to see.

“Both teams tried to play but everyone knows that nice, attractive passing football goes out of the window in derbies. It was high tempo, we tried to get the ball forward as quickly as we could and make things happen in the opposition box.

“We came here to win the game, but at 3-2 we would obviously have settled for a point.

“It was very important that we didn't lose the game. It would have been a very long week waiting for the Hull game without Daniel's equaliser.

“When you look back we could have lost but I'm sure the Everton players are thinking the same.

“With Joe Allen's chance, Luis Suarez's chance, it could have been 5-5. It was an exciting derby that I'm sure will be getting replayed on the TV for many years.

“From a player's point of view I think we go away from here with a lot of positives but also a lot of negatives.

“When you score three but concede three your feelings are a bit mixed when you're trying to analyse the game. But we're certainly happy with a point the way the game panned out. It keeps Everton away from us.”

Liverpool remain second in the Premier League but are now four points adrift of leaders Arsenal.

The outcome could have been very different if Dowd had dismissed Mirallas for his studs-up tackle on Suarez before the break. The Belgian winger somehow escaped with a booking.

“To be fair to the referee when I initially saw the incident I was thinking yellow card,” Gerrard said.

“I was probably the same distance away from it as the referee so you have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Now I have seen it again though it's a red card, everyone knows that. But it's very difficult to say that in a split-second and at that distance. I think I'd rather back the referee than have a go at him.”

Not for the first time this season the Reds were indebted to the brilliance of strikers Suarez and Sturridge.

Despite having only returned to Merseyside from Uruguay 36 hours before kick-off, Suarez put in a tireless shift and netted with a stunning curling free-kick.

An ongoing thigh problem meant Sturridge was deemed only fit enough for bench duty but he came on 21 minutes from time and made the desired impact when he nodded home Gerrard's late free-kick.

“Daniel has obviously been carrying a bit of a niggle of late but the manager said in his team-talk that he could probably come on and be the match winner or play a very important part coming off the bench,” Gerrard added.

“As for Luis, he's a machine. He's right up there with the best in the world.

“Luis is the type of player who won't be thinking about his free-kick after the game, he'll be thinking about the header he missed. That's why he's so good.

“He'll be desperate to get back out and make amends for that. That's what the best players do.

"They don't get big-headed over the good things they do but analyse the mistakes, where it went wrong and how they can improve.”